mgoblog - WVUhttp://mgoblog.com/taxonomy/term/581/0
enMid-Major Ceiling and Michiganhttp://mgoblog.com/diaries/mid-major-ceiling-and-michigan
<p><i>This was going to be a comment under the article concerning Beilein's recruiting and Brian's response, but it went too long and I figured it might as well be a diary entry.</i></p>
<p>While I agree that this David fellow sounds pretty whiny, I do think he points out the one potential failing of Beilein - his system was designed to compensate for the lack of the "big time" star. The heavy reliance on three pointers that is a hallmark of his offense is designed to compensate for the lack of a post threat and/or a dynamic finisher around the basket. Similarly, the 1-3-1 was designed to create turnovers as a way to compensate for little interior defense from a dominant inside presence. And when Beilein was coaching at Canisius, Richmond, and WVU, that focus made sense, as he wasn't going to be able to nab the type of dynamic players teams like UNC, Duke, UConn, and MSU has that can take over a game. Instead, he recruited guys who could play in his system and flourish, trotting out a team that, when playing well, could beat a more talented collection of players.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, and I think this might have been a small component of David's rant, this type of system has a finite level of potential success - something I'll refer to as the Mid-Major Ceiling (MMC). Look at teams like Gonzaga (though their recruiting has gotten better over the years), Xavier, Creighton, and throw WVU into that mix (though they come from a major conference, they would never have succeeded in the Big East simply trying to out-recruit other teams). While they all are/were consistent NCAA teams, none ever made it past the Elite 8 (except George Mason, which was the flukiest of fluky runs), and even getting past the Sweet 16 was a crapshoot. The reason for this, at least in my opinion, was due to the fact that they inevitably ran into a team whose talent was great enough to expose the deficiencies each of those systems was designed to hide. In most instances, what exposed this MMC was a team that possessed a "superstar" or, at the very least, a combination of near-stars that could simply impose his/their will upon the game; basically, the talent beat the system.</p>
<p>Now, as a fan of basketball purity I don't see a major problem with this. I loved when Princeton beat UCLA, not because it was a huge upset, but because it showed that a good team could beat a collection of great players. Similarly, the Pistons in 2004 were great because they played a system that stymied the more talented Lakers. And maybe years ago systems won championships, when you didn't need to have the best players because your 1-5 played better together than anyone else's 1-5. But as much as I hate to say it, basketball has become far more about the dominant player(s) than the system. </p>
<p>Look at this year's NCAA championship - MSU has a huge amount of talent, but UNC was clear and away the most talented team in college basketball all season. Leading up to the final, you kept hearing that MSU could win if they played their "game", the Izzo system of tough defense, offensive rebounding, and opportunistic scoring with guys like Lucas and Morgan attacking the basketball with Suton firing from outside. UNC, by comparison, seemed to run a more fluid, less-defined system, where guys like Lawson, Hansbrough, and Ellington simply took over parts of a game with their superior talent. Well, UNC steamrolled MSU, like they did every other team in the tournament, and they did it by fielding a more talented lineup than anyone else.</p>
<p>And this wasn't a one-time shot - looking at recent NCAA finals participants, most of them sent numerous players to the pros and generally recruited the best talent every year. There's a reason that Duke, UNC, MSU, UConn, Kansas, UCLA, and Memphis (under Cal) are NC contenders every year, and it's not because they run a distinctive style - they trot out All-Americans and future pros and simply out-talent the opposition on most nights. And UM has been on the receiving end of this out-talenting firsthand - see Griffin taking over the game against UM in the second round this year. UM and OU (sans Griffin) were similar teams in terms of talent, and UM's system was better that OU's. But Griffin's talent exposed the chief deficiency of this team (no inside talent/defense), and as a result UM was sent home.</p>
<p>In fact, a good barometer of this phenomena is the Duke-UNC rivalry. Duke out-recruited UNC earlier this decade, and took command of the rivalry for years. Then, once Doherty left and Williams started to out-recruit Duke for key talent, the pendulum swung over and UNC has consistently beaten Duke the past 3-4 years. Now, I don't think that the programs drastically changed their offenses and defenses over those stretches; they simply out-talented each other during their up periods. </p>
<p>So what does this mean for Beilein and recruiting? In my opinion, you need stars in today's NCAA to break the MMC and compete for championships, both in conference and nationally. The concern I have, and I do think some others share, is that UM isn't WVU, Richmond, Gonzaga, Xavier, etc. - the school's name alone gives its coach a chance to recruit kids that would never consider those other program mentioned. UM should be able to recruit top-100 kids on a consistent basis (Amaker showed it was possible even while the team was hopelessly flailing). That said, you need a coach who is willing to do that, to go after some kids who might bolt after 1-2 years and who might not be the best fit for your system. </p>
<p>Listen, I don't want UM to go to the way of Memphis or OSU, with one-and-done super-talents comprising the bulk of the depth chart. At the same time, though, we've seen how far many of these "system" teams can go - the occasional Elite 8, usually at least 1 win in the NCAA tournament but rarely a threat to compete for the NC. And maybe I'm overreacting, and maybe this shows my arrogance, but I think UM can be better than that. This "hey, 9-3 is fine with me" mindset was what permeated the last few years of Carr's tenure (save 2006), and those years were tough to handle as peers (OU, OSU, USC, LSU, UF) rose to greater prominence. That's why Brian's claim that "Michigan will build up a program over Beilein's career and then be in a position to swing for the fences afterwards[]" troubles me so much. I don't want to leave such a transition to chance, to nabbing that hot coach with the ability to recruit nationally to push this team into the NC conversation. UM can and should be able to enter this conversation NOW, but it is going to take a concerted effort by Beilein and his staff to take some chances and build a team that not only runs his system to a T, but has that player/players who can take over a game or make a big shot when the system breaks down. </p>
<p>Ultimately, I think that Beilein is a great coach and I fully expect him to recruit great players for this program. I think UM will one day soon shatter the MMC and contend nationally, and I will be cheer on the program until my voice goes hoarse. Already he has recruited better players than he usually had at WVU, and this season's success should only help in these efforts. But until we see a consistent uptick in recruiting, these concerns shouldn't be shouted down as alarmist either.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/diaries/mid-major-ceiling-and-michigan#commentsbasketballMichiganMichiganRecruitingWVUWed, 08 Apr 2009 20:35:51 +0000bronxblue16326 at http://mgoblog.comBurr in my saddlehttp://mgoblog.com/content/burr-my-saddle
<p>Anyone else getting any schadenfreude out of watching Jim Burr ref the WVU vs. Pitt matchup? announcers, fans and coaches are incredulous.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/burr-my-saddle#commentsMGoBoardBig TenOfficiatingPittWVUFri, 13 Mar 2009 00:43:08 +0000BleedingBlue15647 at http://mgoblog.comObservations of PITT vs WVUhttp://mgoblog.com/diaries/observations-pitt-vs-wvu
<p>This is not a rant or a rave about the state of the program just some ramblings on the WVU game.</p>
<p>Friday I suffered through the offensive slugfest that was Pitt vs. West Virginia. I think I watched to simply gain some sort of confidence for our offense next year. Instead I came away less than impressed. I believe WV finished with about 300 total yards and 15 points. I saw many of the same plays that Michigan "tried" to run. Noel Devine and Pat White both RRod system guys couldn't get anything going. The offense was full of short yard dink and dunk plays with the occasional QB scramble for his life that netted a nice gain and if I remember correctly 1 td. I guess my point well I really don't have one I suppose. Did anyone else watch this game? Any impressions for next season. Take it easy on me I'm a long time listner first time caller here. Just looking for some opinions. I'm not bailing out on my team or anything but I would like to get some feedback on what I saw from the WVU offense.</p>
<p>Still must admit it's nice to see notre dame getting blown out.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/diaries/observations-pitt-vs-wvu#commentsHopeMichiganPittWVUSun, 30 Nov 2008 03:15:38 +0000MallettFumblesSnaps@Arkansas13143 at http://mgoblog.comEugene Smith to WVUhttp://mgoblog.com/content/eugene-smith-wvu
<p>Eugene Smith will be verbally committing to West Virginia, according to rivals.com.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/eugene-smith-wvu#commentsMGoBoardRecruitingWVUTue, 11 Nov 2008 02:06:03 +0000TomVH12685 at http://mgoblog.comWVU without RR, Magee, and eeeeeBarwis...http://mgoblog.com/content/wvu-without-rr-magee-and-eeeeebarwis
<p>For those of you who didn't watch the ECU vs WVU game, I can tell you that WVU without all of UM's coaches is NOT even close to the same team you saw destroy OU. ECU manhandled the WVU players in the trenches, and the WVU OL looked like they took the summer off, except for eating pizza. The WVU D got gassed by ECU's RB/WR. The difference from last year to this year was night and day. They will not win the Big East this year. If you get a chance, watch them sometime this year. Their immediate drop-off after RR and friends left is amazing. Brian@AOL has an article siting this amazing turn around as well.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/wvu-without-rr-magee-and-eeeeebarwis#commentsMGoBoardBarwisWVUMon, 08 Sep 2008 17:30:09 +0000NCWolverine11704 at http://mgoblog.comPredictions that I just don't understandhttp://mgoblog.com/diaries/predictions-i-just-dont-understand
<p>
<em>*warning, mild profanity* (won't someone think of the children??) </em>
</p>
<p>
I'm having flashbacks. I seem to remember just before last year when everyone and their brother was predicting a BCS bowl run for Louisville. And why not??? They had a heisman trophy candidate at QB. Lots of starters returning. Talented recruits were coming in. Oh sure, they lost their coach, but Louisville was a rock of consistency among the mid majors, so there wouldn't be much drop off. RIGHT?
</p>
<p>
check out CFN's preview for their 2007 season.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://cfn.scout.com/2/639933.html" title="http://cfn.scout.com/2/639933.html">http://cfn.scout.com/2/639933.html</a>
</p>
<p>
The key passage:
</p>
<p>
<em>&quot;<strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">The season will be a<br />
success if</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><br />
... Louisville goes back to the BCS. 11-1 is also a good goal to shoot<br />
for with an upset to prevent a 9-0 start before dealing with West<br />
Virginia, South Florida and Rutgers. As long as Brohm is healthy and<br />
winging, the offense will be among the best in America. The defense<br />
won’t miss a beat under Kragthorpe and should be among the best in the<br />
Big East. It’s all there for another Big East title, and maybe more.&quot;</span></em>
</p>
<p>
I mean, they play in the big east, against a bunch of weak teams. They should be favored in most of those games. Right?? How much can losing a coach REALLY matter?
</p>
<p>
Okay, so most of you know that it mattered a lot. The defense was one of the worst ever, and the team stumbled to 6-6. So why bring this up now? Is it because this year the pundits are making more realistic 7-5ish predictions? Not really. No, this is about West Virginia.
</p>
<p>
<strong>West M'Fing Vahjinya!</strong>
</p>
<p>
So you might have heard that WVU lost its head coach. You might also be aware that it lost 6 other assistant coaches and the entire Strength and Conditioning staff. Now, I'm sure that the people hired to replace them are all fine men and great football coaches, considering I don't know who the fuck any of them are. But I think the mere fact that most of them have never worked together before would make the pundits pause a bit before... are you ready for this... RANKING THEM #6! Which is exactly what the NYtimes did. That's right, the same &quot;rock of journalistic integrity&quot; that said Michigan was #48 this year put WVU a full 2 spots ahead of the rest of the LOLMSM and the coaches who don't bother (for lack of time) to watch film on anyone they're not playing.
</p>
<p>
The Gray Lady, the self styled 'paper of record' thinks WVU is 42 spots ahead of Michigan this year. And yet I think if the two were to play Michigan would win by about 42 points. Not necessarily because WVU is all that bad, but I've watched John Gruden utterly destroy a far more talented Raiders team because he knew all their weaknesses. But, but, but, . . .
</p>
<p>
But they play in the big east, against a bunch of weak teams. They should be favored in most of those games. They've got a Heisman candidate at QB. They've got great talent coming in! Losing their head coach shouldn't matter that much? Right?
</p>
<p>
The parallels are just too many. The one saving grace for WVU is that they had a much better D than UL, and they managed to keep their DC. (oh yeah, and their special teams coach, HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAH). But anyone predicting more than 8 wins for them is stepping out on a long branch, (on a tree that hasn't seen much rain thanks to global warming).
</p>
<p>
The nytimes says that their worst case scenario is 9-3. I guess that works if you can count losses to colorado, Rutgers, Auburn, Cincinnati, Pitt, and south Florida as 3 losses.
</p>
<p>
<strong>And then there's notre lame</strong>
</p>
<p>
What exactly can we use for a comparison? I mean, how often has a 10-2 team turned into a 3-9 team? How many BCS teams (even if they didn't deserve going to the BCS) turned into un-coalesced shit the next year? The kind of shit you get the next morning when you mix kimchee with tequila. (trust me, don't do it) We're talking about one of the worst offenses in history. IN HISTORY. But at least they've got a lot of starters returning, especially from the WORST OFFENSIVE LINE IN HISTORY. I'm sure they're much better now.
</p>
<p>
And it's not like they can use Louisville's excuse about a coaching change. This was Charlie Weis in his third year. With 3/5 of the team being his recruits. Now the team is 4/5 his recruits, minus the 20 or so players who transferred in mid season. (LOLMSM: &quot;but michigan had 2 players transfer in the offseason during a coaching change, let's freakout about THAT!&quot;)
</p>
<p>
The NYtimes kind of throws their hands up on this one. They predict anywhere from 3-9 to 10-2. Bold predictions there. Hey, why not just predict 0-12 to 12-0?!? at least then you'd be 100% right. But it's better than CFN which hasn't put up a prediction yet, (4 days before the start of the season). *bunchafuckinggutlessfuckingretardedmoronsdon'tfuckingknowanythingaboutfuckinfootballfgmmngfmfdmm*
</p>
<p>
The funniest prediction came from cheese slice-I mean charlie weis, (sorry freudian slip) himself. He's predicting at least 9 wins. BWAHAHahahahahahAHAHHAHAHAahahahahAHAHAH!!!!!!
</p>
<p>
And other racist bastards- I mean notre dame fans, such as Beano 'the hutt' Cook, Lou 'sssthsssthssp' Holtz, and our friendly forum trolls (mostly on mlive, not so bad around here) are making similar, if slightly less insane statements.
</p>
<p>
GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK. The best parallel I could find was 1999 penn state went 10-3 and then the next year bombed out at 5-7. There was no coaching change. This was all Joe Pa's work. in 2001 they 'rebounded' to 5-6. They had to replace the 'irreplaceable' kevin thompson with rashard casey. Chafie Fields was replaced by Eddie drummond, yadda yadda, (it's college, you're ALWAYS replacing more than 1/5 of your team.) And eric mccoo was replaced by, oh yeah, eric mccoo. But at least in 2001 they benefited from from all that playing time... oh wait.
</p>
<p>
The one thing that ND has over that 2001 penn state team is that they're not starting a new QB for the third straight year. Unless Charlie Weis pulls a charlie weis and starts dayne crist causing Casey- I mean Jimmy - I mean Rick, no wait, I do mean Jimmy, JIMMAH! Clausen to transfer to Tennessee after the 2nd game.
</p>
<p>
But, But, But, The Schedule! It's sooo much easier. Right? Because airforce and navy were such recruiting juggernauts...
</p>
<p>
But, but, but. They play stanford. That's an autowin right? Stanford, a team that nearly beat them last year, beat USC, and isn't coached by the ugliest narcissist in the world. Someone explain to me the logic behind the idea that ND will improve a lot from year 3 to year 4 of weis, but stanford won't improve much from year 1 to year 2 of harbaugh when stanford has already improved by leaps and bounds from year 0 to year 1 of harbaugh.
</p>
<p>
Maybe I'm being too harsh, if you guys can find good examples of teams falling off the BCS wagon into a bowl-less season and managed to get back up to snuff the next year without a coaching change...I'd be willing to listen.
</p>
<p>
But to me, it seems like 'one hit wonders' tend to only go in the positive direction. An 'out of nowhere' bowl run followed by a return to mediocrity is more likely than a winning team tanking it and then getting right back on the horse the next year.
</p>
<p>
Just to finish that penn state analogy, in 2002 Larry johnson in his third year of active duty and Zack mills in his 2nd led them to a 9-4 record (so some faint hope for ND) but then johnson left and mills couldn't do it by himself as they fell to 3-9 and 4-7 the next two years.
</p>
<p>
Of course the situations aren't exactly the same, I'm predicting 6 wins for ND, but 3-9 would make me happy. and then I could write a lot of 'told you so' posts like I did this year for predicting an irish 0-8 start last year. (damn you UCLA and your 5th string quarterback)
</p>
<p>
<strong>BUT WHAT ABOUT US?</strong>
</p>
<p>
By now, any racist bastards - i mean ND and WVU fans, reading this are probably saying to themselves, 'so what? your team is going to suck!' to which I reply: No, we won't.
</p>
<p>
And even if we do, we are being predicted to suck by the LOLMSM. And this post is about unrealistically high predictions. So it doesn't matter.
</p>
<p>
Yes our O-line is scary, and not in the good way. And I'm confident in saying that if we have any more injuries up front we could easily go 4-8. But rather than write all the arguments again, I'll just point you to my previous post on that subject.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/prepare-eat-these-words" title="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/prepare-eat-these-words">http://mgoblog.com/diaries/prepare-eat-these-words</a>
</p>
<p>
Thank you and goodnight.
</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/diaries/predictions-i-just-dont-understand#commentsBill StewartCharlie WeisJoe PaternoLouisvillendSteve KragthorpeWVUTue, 26 Aug 2008 15:37:47 +0000ttifiblog11470 at http://mgoblog.comCFN can't f*ing count to 5http://mgoblog.com/content/cfn-cant-fing-count-5
<p>
Yes it's only a &quot;blog&quot; but that shouldn't excuse someone from reading their own posts and clicking the f*(&amp;)(^&amp;!! edit button
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://cfn.scout.com/2/775571.html" title="http://cfn.scout.com/2/775571.html">http://cfn.scout.com/2/775571.html</a>
</p>
<p>
&quot;I'm going to give you 5 reasons...&quot; And when I say five, I mean three, because I'm f*(&amp;^&amp;*( stupid!
</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/cfn-cant-fing-count-5#commentsMGoBoardlolcfnWVUTue, 05 Aug 2008 16:20:22 +0000ttifiblog11204 at http://mgoblog.comsooo, about that pitt game...?http://mgoblog.com/diaries/sooo-about-pitt-game
<p>
One of the most damning criticisms of the hiring of RR was the outcome of the WVU vs. Pitt game. Folks around Ann Arbor were getting pretty fed up with Lloyd losing games he shouldn't, losing rivalry games, being too conservative, and too stubborn to make in-game adjustments. <br />
<br />
And then we go out and hire a guy that seems to have demonstrated all of those same flaws in the most important game of his career, a game that should have been a lay-up, against a team that was down to their third QB. WTF happened?<br />
<br />
* Did we just hire Lloyd part 2? (which imho wouldn't have been an altogether horrible thing, even if incredibly frustrating)<br />
* Did they choke?<br />
* Was it RR's fault?<br />
* Was it the kicker's fault?<br />
* Did they just get outplayed?<br />
* Did they get outcoached?<br />
* Was it because of injuries?<br />
* Does the spread work in the cold?<br />
* Should we be worried?<br />
<br />
Well, after watching several WVU games, I finally got around to watching the pitt game. I was kind of saving it for last, because I wanted to have a better understanding of the offensive philosophy and the personnel, in order to put the loss into context. So, in short, the answers are: No, yes, no, YES, some, some, no, yes, and 'that's up to you'.<br />
<br />
<strong>What happened?</strong><br />
<br />
1st Quarter:<br />
<br />
The first pass of the game is an interception by pitt's frosh qb, this is taken back deep into pitt territory. WVU proceeds to drive it down inside the 10 where it's 1st and goal. Pitt changes to a strange alignment putting 8 in the box and having the widest CB playing 10 yards off, almost like a safety. The slot DB's are playing inside technique. 1st play is a read option that gets stuffed because Pitt walks up a second LB outside of the DE very late, right before the snap. This confuses the blocking as there are two guys unblocked. 2nd down features deep penetration by pitt's DT's and outside slants by the LBs, pat white makes a great move to make one guy miss and picks up a couple yards. 3rd down is a designed QB rollout from the I-formation into the boundary. It's a fake offtackle to the right, but the FB goes left like he might release, except he just plows into the Will, the SE looks like he's blocking too, white almost makes it, but the LB makes a great play to shed the FB's block and keep outside contain. And then things get screwy. WVU takes a delay of game to get a better angle on the FG, but pitt declines. And the FG kicker misses to the left what should have been an easy 29 yarder. (this will be a recurring theme) So instead of a demoralizing 7-0 lead it's still 0-0.<br />
<br />
Pitt can't do anything on its next drive, run, crappy flare, run, punts to WVU.
</p>
<p>
WVU doesn't do much better. 1st down is an ISQD for about 3 yards. 2nd down has what looks to be a good option to the right but a bad pitch blows up the timing and slaton is TFL. 3rd and 11 and RR calls a flanker screen to a true freshman. Looks like the linemen can't make it all the way out to the opposite hash mark and make decent blocks, it almost looks good, but it's still kind of a giveup call near midfield. Pitt had it well defended with 5 DB's matching up with 3 WR. Even if the linemen get there on time, it's a 4 against 5, meaning the frosh receiver would have to make a great play to the get the first down. The punt goes through the endzone. (missed the corner by about 5 yards)<br />
<br />
Pitt goes three and out. I-form counters and traps. Run, Run, Sack, Punt. WVU ball 1st down, DB's are playing waaay off. So a simple stop route gets 5 yards. And then on 2nd and 5 comes a play that I think illustrates why WVU struggled so much in this game. It's WVU's base play, split backs, slot left, no TE. Pitt has 7 in the box, man up with a free safety in center field. This is the play that often rips off 60 yarders. Both backs sweep right, zone blocking, the wideside DE is unblocked and being read by the QB. Meanwhile the slot man takes a lateral step and is available for the bubble screen/flare. But pitt has absolutely everything covered. on the snap the LB's are flowing with the backs, the DE comes upfield but does an excellent job of staying under control, and the nickleback covering the slot reads the lateral step and is just hard charging for a potential TFL. The CB's drop into what looks like a cover 3. Pitt has at least the first 4 options on this play covered, the only weakness might be another stop route to the guy on boundary side, but he's busy blocking. The unblocked DE plays it well, and makes White handoff to slaton, which isn't going to go anywhere because the FB can't block two LBs. Anyway, the playside DE makes an awesome dipsy doodle play because he's into the boundary, rides the tackle's outside shade block, then sheds him to go underneath and nab slaton at the LOS. <br />
<br />
3rd and 3, 5WR, big blitz up the middle, pat white just walks around the outside making everyone else look slow. big gain. This was a complete 'jimmie and joes' moment as the DE was in good position to stop him and the blitzing LB was untouched. 1st down and we see a different way to defend WVU's bread and butter. The formation is flipped because they're on the left hash now. The boundary CB is playing in what looks like bump and run taking away what would have been a good adjustment to a stop route on that side (this is the Pitt's DC knowing where the weakness is and moving it around). But the CB comes on a blitz, and the slot DB rotates into a deep safety position as the farside CB rolls up to take away the bubble screen. and at this point i'm thinking the pitt DC is pretty darn good. Devine has to jump around the CB who blows up the fullback by going low, the tackle gets a good seal on the LB, and noel picks up a decent 7 yard gain. 2nd and 3, 8 in the box, same formation, this time white gives to slaton as the diveback, but he's stuffed by the walked up safety. Pitt is spreading that line to make unblocked guys on both ends by moving their LB's late. 3rd and short, I form. White gives to the FB on a reverse pivot, he barely gets the 1st. WVU bread and butter to the left, devine makes a great cutback, but the safety makes a better tackle to save what would have been a huge play. 2nd down is a 4WR ISQD that gets stuffed. 3rd down is trips left, half roll left and I can't tell what the route is because the receiver fell down and the throw was awful. And then they miss another short FG. (This will be a recurring theme in the game).<br />
<br />
So the 1st quarter is almost over, Pitt doesn't have a 1st down, and they threw a pick, WVU has got lots of yards but stalled in the Redzone. And it's still 0-0. Pitt goes run, run, run, punt. <br />
<br />
2nd Quarter:<br />
<br />
Strange formation, TE and flanker right, slot left, HB offset left, it's a dropback pass, the covered tackle is beat by a speed rush, FUMBLE, recovered by pitt. Not that it matter's since pitt's QB couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Pitt goes run, incomplete, incomplete, punt out of the endzone.<br />
<br />
WVU 1st and 10 from the 20, midfield, WVU bread and butter sweep left, the backside DT does a great job of flowing with the play and making a tackle from the backside from after a 2 yard gain. This should never happen. The guard is in no man's land looking for someone to block instead of helping the tackle. 2nd down, 4WR TE right, ISQD gets about 5 yards but somehow pitt has 8 in the box. Both safeties are about 7 yards from the ball. 3rd and 3 and someone has a brain fart. it's hard to tell because the WR is off screen but it looks like the CB is playing bump and run again (where they blitzed him before) and white lobs one up over the top, but there's no receiver within 20 yards. Maybe the CB just got a good jam. punt<br />
<br />
Pitt, runs three times and gets their first 1st down by a couple of inches, inc, run, screen for a big gain against the blitz, run, run. Pitt looks like they're trying to run out the clock, taking the play clock down to 2 or 3 each time, but there's still 7 minutes in the 2nd quarter. Interception, their QB really sucks.<br />
<br />
WVU 1st down from their own 26, I-form TB dive with the end around fake gets 4. 2nd and 6, it looks like the WVU bread and butter play, but the adjustment is for the slot man to take a lateral step and then GO. It's a great play call but Pat White just doesn't have the kind of touch and arm strength necessary. It's complete but the WR is down where he catches it. (I hate the TV guys, they give 20 reviews of the catch, but only one replay of why the ball was underthrown. the Pitt DT is just owning WVU's guard.) 1st down at the 41, a sweep left is stuffed because white makes a bad read and gives when he should have kept it. 2nd down brings the first attempt at the double flare chinese fire drill screen, but pitt plays it beautifully, has two guys ready to TFL slaton, and slaton just runs away from them for a 9 yard gain (hello jimmie). 1st Down, WVU bread and butter, but they've swapped out the boundary SE for a TE, and this is a dive to the first man through for 5 yards. 2nd down 4WR 7 IN THE BOX! And the ISQD gets pat white hurt. I consider this a bad call. not because he got hurt, but because you're running 5 and a half blockers against 7. plus there's a deep safety. Dislocated thumb on his non-throwing hand, and it happened when he put his hand on the back of one of his own blockers. Not exactly a contact injury. Jarett Brown comes in for the 3rd down play, realizes he doesn't know where to throw and dances around a few guys for a first down (hello joe.) <br />
<br />
1st down, WVU bread and butter left but they've traded the slot man for a TE. This allows the safety to roll up making 8 in the box and HE PLAYS CONTAIN! allowing the sam to flow and cut off the cutback. (another +1 for pitt's DC) ultimately the DT splits a doubleteam and makes the tackle near the LOS. 2nd down, quick playaction stop route for 5. 3rd down, nice adjustment to change the cadence, the pitt alignment is given away (they wanted to roll into it late) and there's a nice half roll to the trips side, brown makes a crisp pass to the wide open man on the crossing route (rub route). 1st and goal, read option out of the split/flanker set but brown makes the wrong read and slaton is TFL. The DE just ownd the tackle. 2nd and goal, slot right, brown drops back, craps his pants and tries to run, but is tackled near the LOS, The blitzing LB drove one of the linemen 6 yards back. 3rd and goal 4WR, it's a dropback, Brown craps his pants again, and is tackled near the LOS. So another drive stalls in the redzone (this is becoming a recurring theme in this game). But a personal foul gives them another chance. Twins right, split left, FB offset left. It's a QB ISO and Schmitt gets a great block as they attack the Will's bubble. TD.<br />
<br />
Pat White 0 - Jarett Brown 7<br />
<br />
With a minute and a half left, everyone is thinking pitt will run out the clock, 3 runs takes it down to 30 seconds left, but the ball is at the 45 so they take a TO. Short pass for a 1st, and a phantom late hit penalty lets Pitt hit a 48 yard FG before half. <br />
<br />
Jarett Brown 7 - Bad Referees 3<br />
<br />
Stupid halftime notes: Pat white was recruited as a DB, committed to LSU and then decommitted. Looks like RR has had his snake oil recipe for a while. And RR actually talks about pat white's injury instead of treating it like a state secret. WVU has twice and many yards, twice as many takeaways but only 4 more points. The kicker had only missed 2 FG's all year before this game.<br />
<br />
3rd Quarter:<br />
<br />
Kickoff return KRUMBLE! Pitt recovers at the 47. Run, run, pass, fake punt on 4th and 1 for 1st, inc, run, finally a big completion down to the 17, run, run, run, run TD. Jarett Brown 7 - WVU turnovers 10
</p>
<p>
1st down at their own 35, WVU bread and butter sweep left, but the linebackers are waiting in the hole. Devine craps his pants and gets tripped up for a 8 yard TFL. On this play the MLB slants hard to the hole where he should have been blocked by the first man through, but in this case Slaton was lallygagging around the outside instead of blocking anyone. 4WR, action left, flanker screen right. This is also kind of a giveup play on 2nd and forever. The slot man makes a weak rub block on his guy before stalking the outside corner, and his guy proceeds to shake off the rub and make the tackle near the LOS. 3rd down, 5WR dropback, batted ball, punt
</p>
<p>
Pitt ball at the 36, run, run, shovel pass for 1st, offsides, big run to the 28, run, run, run, 4th and 1 run for 1st, run, run, run for TD but it's called back (nice cut, weak flag so the refs are back to neutral), screen for nothing, FG is missed. (this has been a recurring theme in this game)
</p>
<p>
But there is only 39 seconds left in the 3rd. Double tight, shotgun ace, it's a QB offtackle, he fumbles but WVU recovers, no harm. End of 3rd. Pitt has 100 yards rushing in the quarter and WVU had a grand total of 4 plays for -5 yards
</p>
<p>
4th Quarter:
</p>
<p>
2nd and 6 WVU lines up in its base formation, but the backs give crossing action in front of the QB instead of sweeping. This is a designed pass, both backs flare after the action, but the pitt defense is in jarett brown's lunchbox eating his sandwiches. Again, they move the OLB's late to make two unblocked men (the MLB slanted to the tackle) on the end, TFL. 3rd and 8, 4WR, big blitz up the middle, it's picked up, slot man is wide open on a streak, but brown overthrows him. punt.
</p>
<p>
Pitt ball on their 30. 14 minutes to play. TFL by dingle, run, delay, big pass down the middle (the DB was in position, just too short), run, short pass, short pass, punt to the 3 yard line. 10:30 remaining
</p>
<p>
WVU at their 3, 4WR QB iso gets 11 yards. 4WR, Pitts DB's are all 10-15 yards off the LOS, stop route for 8 and OoB. 4WR QB iso for 3. 1st down, HOLY SCHNIKES! 4WR and the pitt DT (who has had a monster game) times the cadence and blows by the guard, sack, fumble, recovery. (ball game?) but the strange thing is that the ball is out of his hand before the hit happens. If I were a cynical man watching wrestling, I'd be calling my bookie.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/masterlouie/Majorscrewup.gif" title="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/masterlouie/Majorscrewup.gif">http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f263/masterlouie/Majorscrewup.gif</a>
</p>
<p>
Pitt ball at the 18, inc, run for 1st, run, run, run, 4th and goal, FG. So neither offense can get it done on a consistent basis in the redzone. 6 minutes to play
</p>
<p>
Noel Devine takes the short kickoff all the way to the pitt 33. PAT WHITE IS IN THE GAME! will it be a miracle finish? Will it be the stuff of legends? uh... no.
</p>
<p>
4WR, QB iso, stuffed. Pitt's seen enough of that play. 2nd down, Flanker right, split backs, Iso up the middle, about 5 yards. 3rd down, Twins right, QB offtackle gets 2 yards, 4th down, 4:30 to go, read option, given to the first man through, slaton gets 1, turnover on downs. (looks like a good read, but the MLB destroys the center, (game over?).
</p>
<p>
Run, Run, TO, Counter pitch for a 1st, Pitt's frosh RB looks like the real deal, has about 150 yards. But a holding call brings it back. 3rd and 7 incomplete. punt 3 minutes to play.
</p>
<p>
WVU ball on their 46, 5 WR, pat white craps his pants, but this is usually when he runs for 30 yards, instead he gets tackled by the DE who came out of the 3 man rush to stop him after 1 yard. 2nd down, 4WR, deep out gets a 1st. 4WR, designed QB draw, white gets 12 and loses his helmet. 4 WR half roll left, white overthrows the flag route as reynaud had half a step on his man. 2nd down, 5WR, late blitz isn't picked up, white throws it away. 3rd down, 4WR, big blitz up the middle, white drops the ball, TFL, 4th and 17. 4WR big blitz, incomplete, game over.
</p>
<p>
Pitt gets a phantom celebration penalty but it doesn't matter, run, TO, run, delay, run, punt formation, intentional safety and now the game really is over.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Did we just hire Lloyd part 2?</strong>
</p>
<p>
No. The offensive adjustments were continual and appropriate throughout the game. There were a couple of conservative calls, and one head scratcher of an option call on 4th down, but it was light years more aggressive than Lloyd, and much more flexible. The tweaks to the base play were appropriate, but the players couldn't execute the 4th and 5th options very well. Not surprising. So then they went away from that to the 4WR and 5WR sets and moved the ball much better. They just didn't have the ball enough. The only honest criticism you could make was that the team bogged down in the redzone. But that's been a knock on the spread since the run-n-shoot days.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Did they choke?</strong>
</p>
<p>
Yes, big time. Especially the kicker. Fumbles were the killer. And only one of the fumbles was forced. Whenever WVU has struggled, they've had massive numbers of turnovers. Makes me wish we still had Mike 'I never fumble except for on the goal line against Florida&quot; Hart.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Was it RR's fault? </strong>
</p>
<p>
No. It'd be hard to blame this game on RR. This game was a perfect storm of bad things that culminated in a loss; Injured QB + Great defensive scheme + turnovers + their D-line outplaying the WVU O-line + opposing coach determined to run out the clock from the 1st quarter + QB's who aren't accurate passers = close game. But even with ALL that, WVU should have won if the kicker had just made those two short kicks. If he had been a bad kicker, maybe you could say RR should have gone for it more, but he was an excellent kicker all year, up until that game.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Was it the kicker's fault?</strong>
</p>
<p>
YES, but he wasn't alone. The O-line got owned, and slaton had an uninspired game, probably sulking that he had been passed on the depth chart by devine. The QB's couldn't grip the ball.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Did they just get outplayed?</strong>
</p>
<p>
Some. The pitt front seven had a masterful game. They were just bigger and stronger than the WVU O-line. (does this temper the 'eeeee BARWIS!' express?) But the WVU defense did nothing wrong. They dominated the first half only giving up a field goal on a questionable penalty. The rest of scoring came off turnovers. Pitt was able to run a bit in the second half, but that'll happen when your offense keeps turning the ball over and you're on the field for the whole half.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Did they get outcoached?</strong>
</p>
<p>
Some. The Pitt DC had a great scheme. And he forced WVU away from their base plays. But the offense adjusted. They just needed a QB that could hit the double move routes. One of the keys to the game was the late movement by the LB's and safeties to create mismatches favoring the defense. On one play WVU changed the cadence and exposed the alignment for a big play, but later on this lack of long cadences cost them another turnover. It's hard to have long snap counts when you're in the two minute drill. But because of the shortness of the game, it's hard to know what would have happened had they managed to force it to overtime. If they had held onto the ball they probably would have scored close to 30 points.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Was it because of injuries?</strong>
</p>
<p>
No. White's injury didn't help, but the only TD came with Brown in the game (hey they're both color names, huh, huh, huh) White came back in and had a couple good plays, but the problem was with his pass accuracy, not his legs. And the injury was to his non-throwing hand.
</p>
<p>
Does the spread work in the cold?
</p>
<p>
Yes. The spread works fine in the cold. It was stopped in this game because of scheme, superior D-line play, and turnovers.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Should we be worried?</strong>
</p>
<p>
That's up to you. If the kicker makes the first two kicks, that starts to change what pitt can do, they wouldn't have been able to run on 85% of their plays. If there's no turnovers, then this game probably turns into a 2 TD win for WVU. yes they were 4 TD favorites, but that was a BS line because of the talent of pitt's front 7 and RB's. The way wanndtstache was calling the game neither team looked like it would have more than 6 possessions.
</p>
<p>
But two very glaring concerns stood out.
</p>
<p>
#1: Freshmen make mistakes. About 5 plays were blown up because of mistakes by inexperienced players. And each of those was a big mistake. We're going to be very inexperienced this year. All it takes is for one guy to not hold his block and a 30 yard play turns into a 5 yard loss.
</p>
<p>
#2: Their O-line was manhandled. Let's hope this has more to do with the fact that they were a bunch of 3* and 2* players and not because of any failing of our saviour, Barwis be His name.
</p>
<p>
Also, it'd be nice to have a QB who can hit small targets in the 4th quarter. Especially since it seems we're recruiting a lot of 'small targets'.
</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/diaries/sooo-about-pitt-game#commentsminiUFRPittWVUSun, 27 Jul 2008 15:50:46 +0000ttifiblog11085 at http://mgoblog.comMade by science?http://mgoblog.com/content/made-science
<p>
So I was watching the WVU vs. Louisville game from last year and Owen Schmidt shanks a pooch punt, comes to the sideline, RIIIPS off his helmet, and then slams it into his own forehead repeatedly. And I'm thinking.... uuuuuuuhhhhhh..... uncontrollable aggression - check, walk-on nobody turns into professional athlete - check, serious suspicion of steroids - check and check.
</p>
<p>
I'm not trying to say anything about RR or Barwis, and I could be totally wrong, but I'm not naive about professional sports and many suspicions have been confirmed before. Barry bond, roids. Sammy Sosa, ROIDS. Mark Mcwhatthefukshisname, roids, roids roids. Nebraska during the 90's, MSU during the 80's, East germany, cornroids, tony mandaroids, and shemale roids. If I'm going to call Brett Favre 'grandparoids' for having his best statistical year in his final year when the rest of his draft class have wheelchairs or walking sticks, I gotta mention schmidt.
</p>
<p>
He is a beast, great story, he made a bonehead play and maybe he doesn't have much sensitivity left up there from taking hits everyday in practice. So it could all just be explainable, and a brief moment of overreaction. But 2+2+2 adds up to a lot of eyebrow cocking.
</p>
<p>
Anyway, hope I'm wrong. It just reminded me of lattimer
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVxedatlu0" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVxedatlu0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVxedatlu0</a>
</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/made-science#commentsMGoBoardMSUNebraskaSteroidsWVUSun, 20 Jul 2008 13:21:43 +0000ttifiblog10986 at http://mgoblog.comBill Stewart or Calvin McGee !?!http://mgoblog.com/diaries/bill-stewart-or-calvin-mcgee
<p class="MsoNormal">
&nbsp;
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<em><span>I’m
getting tired of reading articles that praise Bill Stewart but completely forget
to mention that Calvin McGee was at the game.<span>
</span>It’s as if the world forgot that RR put the system in place, Barwis
turned it into a machine, and Calvin schemed his ass off…which leads me to ask
this question…</span></em>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
&nbsp;
</p>
<blockquote>
<em><span>West Virginia</span></em><em><span> went out and b-slapped Oklahoma all over the
Fiesta Bowl field.<span> </span>Instantly the credit
for this whipping went to the coaching and preparation of Bill Stewart.<span> </span></span></em>
</blockquote>
<p>
<em><span>Question-</span></em>
</p>
<ul>
<li><em><span>Did Bill call the offense?<span> </span></span></em></li>
<li><em><span>Did he do anything new with the defense?<span> </span></span></em></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<em><span>I look at this and say…the assistant coach's
did their job and Stewart was a figure head to rally the team.<span> </span>IMO, Bill gets credit for getting the team to
the game…but McGee and the D-coordinator get credit for organizing the game.</span></em>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<em><span>So…What
do you say? Beyond
the players, who gets credit when an interim coach comes in and wins a big bowl
game?</span></em>
</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/diaries/bill-stewart-or-calvin-mcgee#commentsbowl gamesCalvin McGeeInterim coachMichiganWVUSat, 19 Jul 2008 15:17:29 +0000doxa10983 at http://mgoblog.com